Turquoise has been a highly popular semi-precious gem to many societies from the Egyptians to the Aztecs since ancient times. Turquoise is a very porous material, so heat, light, oils, and chemicals can have a negative effect on the stones color and luster. Turquoise is most popular in southwestern fashions. Use turquoise beads with sterling silver beads and charms, and heishi shells.

Small gemstone chips are both popular and versatile. Their convenient size makes them easy to work with, and useful in a wide variety of designs. You can use them as a subtle color accent or base your entire design upon them. Their natural organic shape makes them a great partner for beads like precious metal rounds or metallic seed beads. Tigereye is a banded golden brown quartz with an appealing golden luster. One can't help but think of a sun soaked tiger when viewing this versatile stone. The yellow and brown stripes of this stone appear to swap colors when viewed form different angles.